FireFall Vol. 15: PREACH.
Dr. Cheryl Bridges Johns; Rev. Dionne Boissiere on Prophetic Preaching; "Love Out Loud" shirts; Free Posture Exercises; “Power Distance & Preaching" by Dra. María Eugenia Cornou; Catholic Women Preach
Did you watch Rev. Dr. Gina Stewart’s “What Will You Do with Jesus of Nazareth?” Whew. God bless Dr. Stewart. Be a Claudia.
What began as an intro to today’s newsletter became “Buried Talents and Disa’s Plea to the Rocks” – if you missed it, check it out here. (There’s a stirring video that captures the power of head-to-toe voice.)
I ended up having *so much* for this week that I had to cut…a lot. I need to figure out the best way to make some fantastic resources on women preaching easy to browse (many relating to history, global voices, voices from various traditions or denominations, theology of preaching and proclamation, and so on). It’s a treasure trove.
I’ve edited full-length manuscripts but sometimes find editing FireFall…harder, in a different way, because there’s so much and I want to share it all! Right now! Today!
But you don’t need a whole department store, you need an outfit or maybe even just an accessory.
How would you prefer to receive extra resources?
God, bless preachers with the strength and clarity to own their voice and proclaim You boldly. Heal the parts that have been fractured by pain, trauma, loss, humiliation, grief, or frustration. Let them find and re-find their voices as they sing with You, God. Amen.
Watch: Rev. Dr. Cheryl Bridges Johns on Finding Your Voice
I enjoyed this video featuring Dr. Arlene O. Hall and Dr. Cheryl Bridges Johns so much - what a fantastic discussion. They cover power, authority, identity, voice, centering around “women’s voice and the practice of ministry.”
Dr. Bridges Johns states, “We don’t need to develop a male voice. I can ask women, ‘do you believe you’re created in the image of God?’ ‘…yes…’ But they don’t really believe that, deep down - they don’t. You’ve got to begin to grasp what it means to be created fully in the image of God, and then your body becomes a good instrument, a good place for the Spirit. You’re a daughter, created in the image of God. Love being in your body.”
On authority, she urges, “You can have an authoritative voice, an authoritative presence. Nice is not holy - I have never found the word ‘nice’ in Scripture. You can be nice - I think kind is a genuine thing, being kind is more important. Women age, but they’re sometimes not given permission to mature. God designed us to mature. Being female, having a powerful sense of call, this fire in the belly - sometimes this conflict is found in our body posture, our voice, our struggle to be so agreeable we don’t want to offend and therefore that powerful sense of call - ‘thus saith the Lord,’ ‘hear this Word’ - that is often mitigated out because we can’t be sometimes this ‘nice young woman’ or ‘good woman’ with this - with the Word. So we have to integrate ourselves. No one will give it to us.”
On leading in decision making settings, she notes, “We have been trained to affirm the male voice, not to dialogue with the male voice. That doesn’t work [chairing] in the board room. Our voice has to be a dialogical voice. Dialoguing is part of the ‘round table’ of a board. For some of these guys, it’s probably the first time in their life they’ve been in a meeting in the church chaired by a woman.”
Wherever you are in your ministry journey, take the time to listen to or watch this video, there is so much rich content for new and seasoned preachers alike.
Rev. Dionne Boissiere on Voice and Prophetic Preaching
Over at Woman Preach! Inc, in “Finding Your Prophetic Voice”: The Changing Melody of Preaching” Rev. Dionne Boissiere shares, “Over ten years ago, as a participant at the very first Jarena Lee Preaching Academy, our founder, and visionary, Rev. Dr. Valerie Bridgeman, said something to us that literally changed my life…as one called to preach the Gospel. Dr. Bridgeman said, “…as we approach the text and the task of preaching, we must ask ourselves, WHAT DOES GOD SOUND LIKE IN YOUR OWN THROAT.”
Rev. Boissiere continues, “how can we know what God sounds like in our own throat if we cannot find our true and authentic voice?…The task of ‘finding’ is not necessarily the work of trying to locate something that is lost but uncovering something that is simply not yet been discovered. We first identify the different voices in our heads that impact our true prophetic voice – and discover the critic, the skeptic, the parent whose whispers still resound in our ear…the list can go on. Then we must ask the tough questions of ourselves, of the text, the context, of God, and then make our way to the authentic place of truth telling!”
Over the course of your ministerial journey, she observes, “our voice changes over the years. Who we were and what our authentic voice sounded like twenty years ago will surely be different today. Trauma, tragedy, exhaustion, insecurity, grief, anxiety, holy rage, etc., is an attempt to steal, suppress, or silence our voice. Finding our way to freedom is messy. Finding one’s prophetic voice is the ‘…ing’ work – the unceasing work in the task of prophetic preaching.”
Practical Book on Preaching (and some free breathing and posture videos)
Nancy Lammers Gross is an ordained Presbyterian who provides, “expert, practical help for women who preach or lead worship. Many women preachers and worship leaders have trouble speaking; they struggle to fully use their physical voices. Maintaining that there is often a disconnect between the woman's self-understanding as a preacher and her own body, Nancy Lammers Gross presents not only techniques but also a theologically empowering paradigm shift to help women fully embody their God-given preaching vocations.”
Click here for a series of short free videos from the author with volunteers demonstrating posture, breathing, stance, and connecting with your body as a speaker.
Also check out this practical preaching book - click image for link:
Cheryl Nembhard: “Love Out Loud” Sweatshirt
Cheryl Nembhard is the director of Women Speakers Collective, and she has some great shirts over at her personal website that seem to resound with themes of voice and preaching. This caught my eye (price in Canadian dollars):
Read or Watch: “Power Distance and Preaching” by Dra. María Eugenia Cornou
Have you noticed or sensed the dynamics of preaching in different cultures and communities? There’s a name for a particular dynamic: “power distance.” If you’re not familiar with it, I’ll bet you recognize it when Dra. María Eugenia Cornou describes it. This great resource links theory with practice and experience.
Read or watch here: https://worship.calvin.edu/resources/resource-library/power-distance-and-preaching/
From her bio: “María Eugenia Cornou is an Associate Director and Program Manager for the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. She is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she taught biblical studies and was administrative director at International Baptist Theological Seminary. Maria holds a PhD in theology from the Free University of Amsterdam on the topic of Protestant worship in Argentina.”
Catholic Women Preachers: Practical Hurdles and Challenges with Lectionary Texts and the Liturgical Year
Did you know there are Catholic women preachers? Yes! There are, and they have concerns with the way women come up in the lectionary texts and the liturgical year. I want to say so much more but I’m out of room - for now, check out this great resource by Catholic women pushing for changes.
Thank You, William Watts
William Watts, to my knowledge, isn’t famous. He’s the kind of man who would never have pictured himself being written about 170 years after he said something.
But today, he gets a “high five,” his name recognized.
Because the other day I was browsing online archives of court cases from the Old Bailey in England as one does and in 1859, William Watts, coworker with the defendant who’d been vandalizing a church, was a witness against him.
Records show sometimes defendants and witnesses got into spats with each other in court, and the topic arose of whether the defendant talked about theology at work (he had a track record of smashing statues and defacing paintings).
“Prisoner: ‘The subject of religion was introduced about the Bishop of London preaching in a church.’”
Then Watts the witness retorts irritably:
“Yes; and I recollect one case of its being introduced about a woman preaching, and you commenced a long harangue, and said had you been there you would have told her to go home; and if she wished to know anything to consult her husband.”
In 1859, witness Watts gives testimony to the theology of the defendant, commenting on the defendant’s views of women preaching in a way that suggests Watts had heard a woman, mentioned it at work, and was still irritated by the defendant’s response at the time. Regardless of specifics, Watts’ reply to the defendant is not a compliment, using the word “harangue,” meaning rant.
So in 1859 William Watts called a man out for his views while giving legal testimony to the man’s overall theology and character.
God bless you, William Watts. Rest in peace and rise in glory.
History: It Comes in Maroon! Burgundy! and Deep Raisin!
Apparently maroon and burgundy communicate academic seriousness, or church history. Check out some womens preaching history below, and know that I have so, so, so much more I don’t have room here to share.
Women Preaching: Theology and Practice through the Ages
Women Preachers and Prophets through Two Millennia of Christianity
Hildegard of Bingen (1100’s): Homilies on the Gospels
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